Monday, October 24, 2016

German Apple-Almond Cake

German
baking, I don’t think, gets its due. It’s partially because the names of
the pastries and baked goods don’t exactly roll right off most
of our tongues. Kartoffel-Käse
Dinnede, Zitronenbiskuitrolle,
Aachener Poschweck, Schwäbischer Prasselkuchen,
and, well…I’ll quit now, because it’s taking me too long to hunt down all
those keys on my keyboard. And I’d rather be wrapping my tongue around
German cakes and cookies, rather than trying to wrap it around
their names.

Fortunately
Luisa Weiss, who writes one of my favorite blogs, Wednesday
Chef, has published them in a very accessible collection
of recipes, Classic
German Baking. This beautifully written
cookbook features traditional German favorites, adapted for kitchens
everywhere. (And yes, there’s a guide at the end of the book for how
to pronounce everything.) It’s one of those cookbooks that you’ll
bookmark several recipes in on your first glance, like I did. Then during
the next few weeks, you’ll spend your way baking through them.

Luisa was
born in Berlin. Her mother is Italian, and she’s lived in Germany,
France, and the United States. So you’ll be happy to hear that all the
cakes, cookies, tortes and kuchens are completely do-able in any kitchen,
using ingredients that are easy to get. And for the few that might
pose a challenge, like spiced plum butter and quark, she gives recipes on
how to make them yourself.